TITLE:
Transition of Depressive Symptoms and Anxiety Symptoms According to Parity and Associations of These Symptoms with Feelings for Involvement with Newborn Infants during a 6-Month Postpartum Period
AUTHORS:
Rumi Ishihara, Keiko Nagamine, Yoshie Nishikawa, Mari Haku, Hirokazu Uemura, Yukie Matsuura, Toshiyuki Yasui
KEYWORDS:
Depressive Symptoms, Anxiety Symptoms, Parity, Involvement with New-born Infants
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.10 No.9,
September
24,
2020
ABSTRACT: Background: Depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms during the postpartum period
affect physical health and child rearing and that these effects are important
social issues. Objective: The aims of this study were to clarify the
differences in the transition of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms
according to parity during a 6-month postpartum period and to clarify the
differences in associations of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms with
feelings for involvement with newborn infants in primiparous and multiparous
postpartum women. Methods: The design of this study was a longitudinal
investigation. This study was conducted from February 2017 to July 2018 in
Japan. By using self-administered questionnaires that included questions on
psychological symptoms in a standard climacteric scale and questions on
feelings for involvement with newborn infants, we collected data at 3 days
postpartum, 2 weeks postpartum, one month postpartum, 3 months postpartum and 6
months postpartum. Results: Responses to all of the questionnaires were
obtained from 121 (52.8%) of 229 women. The score for depressive symptoms in
primiparous women was significantly higher than that in multiparous women at 3
days postpartum. Depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms showed peaks at 2
weeks postpartum in both primiparous women and multiparous women, but
depressive symptoms reoccurred from 3 months postpartum to 6 months postpartum
in primiparous women and anxiety symptoms reoccurred from one month to 3 months
postpartum in multiparous women. Depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were
associated with negative feelings for involvement with newborn infants and with
mother’s sleeping time. Conclusion: Changes in depressive symptoms and
anxiety symptoms were different in primiparous women and multiparous women
during a 6-month postpartum period. In addition, depressive symptoms and
anxiety symptoms were associated with negative feelings for involvement with
newborn infants and with sleeping time in postpartum women.